Employee takes robbers’ car, helps police nab suspects

STOCKTON – A quick-thinking employee of a business being robbed turned the tables on the bad guys, ultimately helping police in their capture.

The Record

STOCKTON – A quick-thinking employee of a business being robbed turned the tables on the bad guys, ultimately helping police in their capture.

It all started shortly around 9:40 p.m. Thursday when two armed men entered a business in the 4800 block of South Highway 99 Frontage Road and immediately jumped the counter, according to a police report.

One of the suspects, armed with a handgun, forced an employee to empty a cash register while the other approached the manager and ordered her to open the business safe, police reported. While they were distracted, a third employee fled outside and got into the suspects’ waiting vehicle, then drove it around a corner and out of sight of the business.

When the suspects got their loot and went outside, they couldn’t find their vehicle and instead fled on foot into a nearby field where, a short time later, they were apprehended by responding officers. The stolen cash was recovered and suspects Jeremy Lovitt, 23, and Gabriel Gonzales, 19, were arrested.